Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-226392 attempts to provide a driving assistance system capable of appropriately assisting a driving operation when performing driving assistance based on images from plural cameras ([0006], Abstract).
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-226392 (Abstract), when operation of a direction indicator switch 9 is detected while lane keeping drive assistance is in progress, images from a second imaging unit 6 or a third imaging unit 7, capturing an area to the rear of the vehicle in the direction to which the direction indicator indicated, are used to recognize vehicles that would obstruct lane changing. When determination is made that no obstructing vehicles are present, a lane changing assistance unit 8 instructs a lane keeping assistance unit 2 to change the lane that should be kept to an adjacent lane in the direction to which the direction indicator indicated, and performs lane changing (S9 in FIG. 3, [0018]). When the lane changing has been completed (S10 in FIG. 3: YES), the direction indicator switch 9 resets and lane changing processing is ended, and lane keeping is continued (S11, [0018], [0022]).
As described above, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-226392, lane changing is executed when the direction indicator switch 9 is operated (in other words, when the driver instructs a lane change) while lane keeping drive assistance is in progress. When lane changing has been completed, the direction indicator switch 9 resets and the lane changing processing is ended. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-226392 does not go into detail about restarting lane keeping drive assistance (lane keeping control) after lane changing has been completed.
Steering control to change lanes and steering control to keep in lane are performed separately. It is possible that, for example, the driver could feel unsettled if a divergence in steering torque were to arise when the control is switched.